Board finish apparatus



May 16, 1944. F. A. IRVINE BOARD FINISH APPARATUS Filed Feb. 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 16, 1944. F. A. IRVINE BOARD FINISH APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 5, 1941 y 16, 1944- F. A. IRVINE 2,348,817

BOARD FINISH APPARATUS Filed Feb. 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented. May 16, 1944.

- BOARD FINISH APPARATUS Fergus A. Irvine, New Orleans, La., assignor to The Celotex Corporation, Chicago, 111., a cornotation of Delaware fi Application February 5, 1941, Serial No. 377,412

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for applying to a surface of sheet formmaterial a uniform unstreaked surface coating, and more particularly relates to the application of a surface coating to felted fibrous structural material in board form. I

It is well known that various types of apparatu have been used in the past for applying a surface coating to sheet form material, namely, apparatus such as: doctoringrolls, coating rolls, and various forms of spraying equipment, but it has been found that with such forms of coating apparatus and particularly spraying apparatus, the maximum speed of coating to obtain a smooth unstreaked coating is substantially thirty-five feet per minute. n

It is,,therefore, a principal object of this invention to disclose not only a novel method of obtaining a smooth unstreaked coating at high rates of surface coating but also apparatus for coating sheetform material, particularly structural sheet form material of the type known as insulation board, at a rate substantially in excess of thirty-five feet per minute and up to and even in excess of sixty-five feet per minute.

Another object of the inventionis to provid a novel brushing apparatus in combination with th usual types of automatic reciprocating spray machines and also the ordinary swinging arm type of automatic spray machines to increase the rate of coating of these machines. Coating as used here andthroughout the specification and claims defines a smooth unstreaked surface coating applied at a high lineal speed.

Another object of the invention isto provide a unitary type of brushing apparatus which may be readily applied to existing coating apparatus in production lines; and particularlyvto' enable the coating apparatus to be 'speeded up.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brushing apparatus witha reciprocatory type of brushing motion simulating hand brushing.

7 Another object of the invention is to provide a brushing apparatus havinga brushing motion which is a combination of reciprocatory and rotary motion.

Still another object of the invention is to p ovide a brushing apparatus with a brushing motion wherein there are a plurality of brushes having reciprocatory or to and iro motion in in opposite directions with respect to each other.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a brushing apparatus wherein the brushes may beadiusted vertically with respect to the surface which is to be finished and also to compensate for the wear of the brushes.

Amongother objects, the invention provides a satisfactory means for manufacturing coated sheet material either continuously with the formation of the sheet material or as a separate step in its manufacture; tosecure-production of a uniform product; and to eiIect definite savings in the manufacture of coated board on an extensive commercial scale.

The foregoing objects which will be evident to those skilled in the art are obtained by the structure hereinafter described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is aview in elevation ofa preferred form of brushing apparatus applied to a conveyor type of automatic reciprocating spray machine;

Figure 2 is a plan view ofthe apparatus illus trated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective'view of the brushing apparatus illustrated in conjunction with the swinging arm type of automatic spraying machine;

Figure 4 is a vertical view, partly in section, along the line 4-4 of Figure 3, illustrating the cam for reciprocating a rotary brush of the brushing apparatus;

tary brushes with some of the brushes rotating Figure 5 is a vertical view, partly in section, along the line 5-5 of Figure 3, illustrating the driving mechanism of the brushing apparatus;

Figure 6 is a vertical view, partly in section, along the line 66 of Figure 3, illustrating the sliding connection between a brushing roll and the driving mechanism of the brushing apparatus;

Figure 7 is a view in'elevation, partly in section, along the line 1-4 of Figure 3, illustrating the adjusting mechanism for the brushes;

Figure 8 is a modification of the novel brushingapparatus which uses only a to and fro or re'ciprocatory brushing motion;

Figure 9 is a plan view illustrating the mech-- anism for actuating the reciprocatory brushes of theapparatus illustrated in Figure 8 Figure 10 is a vertical view, Partly in section, illustrating the actuating mechanism for the reciprocatory brushes, along the line III-l0, looking in the direction of the'arrow of Figure9; and,

Figure 11 is a vertical view, partly in section,

illustrating the actuating mechanism for the reciprocatory brushes, taken along the line H-ll of Figure 9, and looking in the direction of the arrow.

The invention is illustrated in connection with a conveyor type of automatic reciprocating spray machine and also with the swinging arm type of automatic spraying machine, although it is evident that the novel form of brushing apparatus may be used in conjunction with an equivalent type of coating apparatus such as coating rolls, doctoring rolls, and the like.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a brushing apparatus I5 is mounted transversely with respect to the direction of travel of a continuous conveyor 16. The type of conveyor illustrated is a cable type having cables I! driven from sheaves I8 and passing over tightening sheaves l8. The tightening sheaves l8 are adjusted by suitable takeup mechanism 20.

Although this invention is being described in connection with a cable type of conveyor, it is obvious that any other suitable form of conveyor may be used in conjunction with the spraying apparatus IS without departing from the scope of our invention. The conveyor l8 may be suitably driven from a motor 2| by variable speed reduction apparatus 22 and driving mechanism 23 comprising suitable gearing or equivalent driving mechanism.

A preferred type of spraying apparatus used in combination with the novel brushing apparatus is an automatic reciprocating spray machine 24. The spray machine 24 is of a well known commercial type comprising a plurality of spray guns 25 which are carried back and forth across the material to be sprayed by a. suitable driving mechanism 26 comprising a motor 21 and suitable chain driving mechanism 28. The mechanism of the apparatus is such that the spray guns turn on and off automatically, onlyspraying when they are directly over the material being sprayed. It is obvious that the spray guns may be vertically adjusted with respect to the material being sprayed.

The spraying apparatus illustrated is designed for spray coating sheet material up to and including widths of five feet as it is continuously conveyed underneath the spray guns as they are reciprocated across the surface of the sheet material. It has been found that a suitable coatin may .be applied with this type of spraying apparatus when the material is fed through at a rate up to and including about thirty-five feet per minute, but as production is increased and the conveyor speed up, the surface finish is unsatisfactory with streaks being left on the surface of the material from the spray guns. It is therefore, a principal object of the invention to overcome this surface streaking as the speed of the conveyor is increased, and this has been satisfactorily accomplished with the novel form of brushing apparatus [5 with the result that the conveyor may be operated up to and in excess of sixty-five feet per minute with the streak'marks of the spray guns being eliminated and a smooth uniform coating applied to the surface of the large fiat objects or sheets continuously. conveyed underneath the brushing apparatus.

Referring to Figures 1 to '7, inclusive, the novel form of brushing apparatus l5 will be described in detail together with the method of operation thereof. The preferred form of brushing apparatus l5 preferably comprises a plurality of r0- taken up through the adjusting mechanism of the brushing apparatus without necessitating many changes of the brushing roll due to wear. The brushing rolls 29 may be made up on a suitable mandrel 38 and preferably are formed by affixing on the mandrel a plurality of brushes annularly formed. The length of the rotary brushes 28 shall be such as to be equivalent to the width of the largest sheet of material to be brushed and still to allow for reciprocatory motion of the brush transverse with respect to the direction of travel of the sheet material to simulate a natural brushing movement as the brushes are rotated. Although three rotary brushes have been illustrated, a satisfactory brushing action may be accomplished by the use of two brushing rolls or even one in some instances without departing from the scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed.

It is preferred that the rotary'brushes28 may be readily detached with their supporting mandrel 30 from their rotary and reciprocating drive shafts 3|, 32, and 33 in order that the brushes may be readily replaced as they are worn without necessitating the tearing down of the entire brushing apparatus. The rotary and reciprocating drive shafts 3|, 32, and 33 preferably comprise at one end cam shafts 34 and at the opposite ends, respectively, spline shafts 35 and 88. The cam shafts 34 and the two spline shafts 35 and the spline shaft 36 are suitably journaled in the end frames 31 and 38. Suitable bearing supports 89 and 40 are mounted on the end frames stub shaft 4|. slidably mounted-on vertical supports 42 and the vertical supports 42 are suitably affixed and rigidly supported by base members 43. The frame for the brushing apparatus is simply formed by the vertical supports 42 and the base members 43 in connection with the end frames 31 and I8, and these end frames may be suitably spaced apart by transverse braces 44 and 45, the transverse brace 44 being afllxed to the vertical supports 42 and the transverse brace 45 being afllxed to the end frames 31 and 38. The vertical supports 42 for each of the end frames are longitudinally spaced by the bottom base members 43 and top cross members 48.

Vertical adjustment of the brushing rolls to provide for variation in thickness of the material being brushed. as well as to provide for .ad-

. actuates bevelled gearing 50 mounted on the end tary brushes 29 of suitable material to smoothly frames 31 and 38. The bevelled gearing comprises bevel gears SI and 52 which are respec tively aflixed to the adjusting shaft 48 and adjusting screws 53. The adjusting screws 53 are suitably journaled as at 54 by bearings allixed to the end frames and adjustably attached to the top cross members 48 by a suitably threaded nut 55 afilxed thereto to provide for vertical adjustment of the end frames 31 and 38, supporting the rotary brushes 29, with respect to the vertical supports 42 of the brushing apparatus. It is obvious that as the hand wheels are rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise, the brushes 29 are raised or lowered with respect to the surface of the conveyor to compensate for wear of the brushes and the thickness of the material being conveyed and coated.

It is, therefore, obvious that a simple form of adjusting mechanism 41 has been provided as the end frames are slidably mounted on the vertical supports 42 by the housings 56, and the latter are sufliciently long that the vertical adjustment of the brushes is the same in the direction of travel of the conveyed material as well as transverse with respect thereto so that the brushes, as they rotate and reciprocate, uniformly brush the surface of the sheet material, leaving the surface unstreaked.

In order to supportthe cables of the conveyor and to provide a level surface underneath the brushes, grooved rollers 51 are suitably mounted on transverse supporting rods 58 which are supported by longitudinal supporting members 59 adjustably affixed to the vertical supports 42. It is obvious that this supporting frame 60 may be raised or lowered to level the surface of the 'conveyor with respect to the brushing rollers, and although a supporting frame has been described having grooved rollers which rotate as the cables are actuated, it is obvious that any suitable type of supporting frame may be used'to support the sheet form material in a level position, and that the type of supporting frame merely depends on the type of conveyor used.

A novel brushing motion is provided by combining ,a rotary andreciprocating motion of each of the brushes, and in addition to the rotary and reciprocating motion of the brushes, the reciprocatory motion of the brushes is such that each of the brushesreciprocates in opposite directions with respect to each other, thus simulating the effect of hand brushing such as would be accomplished manually by the use of many hands as the sheet material is conveyed underneath the brushing rollers. The speed of rotation of the brushes and rate of reciprocation thereof shall be such that a uniform unstreaked surface coating is formed as the material is conveyed and the coating applied. The brushing apparatus may be either individually driven by a motor 6 I, as illustrated in Figure 3, or driven from the same motor 2| which drives the conveyor, as illustrated in Figure 2. The mechanism has been illustrated using driving chains 62 or 63 driving a sprocket 64. It may be desired to use either a variable speed motor 2| or 6| depending upon whether or not it is necessary to vary the speed of the brushes or to reciprocate them at a constant rate.

Referring to Figures 3 and 6, the driving sprocket 64 is slidably affixed to the spline shaft 36 to provide for a reciprocatory motion of the shaft 36 as the brush 29 which is connected thereto reciprocates transversely with respect to the material as it is conveyed. The other rolls 29 arc. driven from the shaft 36 by a similar sprocket 65 suitably splined to allow for the reciprocation of the shaft 36, and the sprocket 65 is connected to the stub drive shaft 4| by a chain 66 and sprocket 61. It is obvious that by the use of different sized sprockets the relative speeds of the rotary brushes may be changed or with suitably selected sprockets, the brushes maybe driven at the same rate depending upon the'pa'rticular type of surface finish desired. The stub drive shaft 4i, being affixed to the intermediate gear 68, suitably actu- I illustrated and described. It is also obvious that other suitable modifications may be made in the driving mechanism to rotate the rotary brushes in the same directions either counter to the motion of the material being conveyed or in the same direction thereof, or suitable mechanism may be provided to rotate the brushes in the direction illustrated or in other suitable directions without departing from the scope of the invention.

In order to provide the necessary reciprocatory motion to the-brushes as they are rotated, a novel mechanism is provided comprisingfthe cam shafts 34 and the cams 1 I and 12. To provide the reciprocatory motion as illustrated in Figure 2, the cylinder cams 1| are cut in the same direction. while the cam 12 is cut in anopposite direction. To transform the rotary motion of the brushes into acombined rotaryand reciprocatory motion, the rotary cams 1| and 12 are actuated by the stationary'rollers13 suitably mounted on a fixed bracket 14 affixed to the end frame 31. It is. therefore, obvious that as the brushes are rotated, a reciprocatory motion is imparted to the brushes through the co-action of the cams 1| and 12'and the fixed position of the rollers 13. The direction of reciprocation of the rotary brushes 29, as illustrated in Figure 2, is preferred although it is obvious that different motions may be imparted to the brushes by changing the cams; and by disconnecting the cams, the brushes, if necessary, may rotate without reciprocation.

The novel brushing apparatus l5 which has just been described was primarily described with reference to an automatic reciprocating spray machine, but it is to be understood that it is equally as suitable for use with a swinging arm type of auto'matic spraying machine as spraying machine 15, illustrated in Figure 3, wherein only the lower portion of the pendulum arm 16 of the apparatus has been illustrated. The pendulum or swinging arm .16 supports spray nozzles 11 for spraying the surface of the conveyed sheet ma terial. The novel brushing apparatus is perhaps better suited for providing a smooth unstreaked surface coating with this type of apparatus because with this type of apparatus the spray guns move over the object which is being sprayed with a-variable speed thus leaving the spray marks more readily discernible than with the automatic reciprocating type of spray machine. However, by using the novel formof brushing apparatus disclosed above in combination with either of the above types of spraying apparatus or with coating rolls, or other coating apparatus, a more satisfactory and better surface finish is applied to a surface of an object being sprayed or otherwise coated, particularly large flat objects which are being sprayed or surface coated on a conveyor.

A suitable but yet more simple form of brushing apparatus is illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings, and the illustration particularly disclosing a brushing apparatus comprising a plurality of reciprocating rods carrying brushes moving transversely with respect to the direction of the conveyed material being surface coated. This modification will only be described with referenc tothe mechanism for reciprocating the reciprocatory. brushes as the details of the construction of the framework for the brushing apparatus are substantiallythe same as those disclosed with reference to the preferred embodiment illustrated in Figure 3; and therefore, like reference characters will denote similar parts; The modified brushing apparatus 18 preferably comprises a plurality of reciprocating brushes [9 and 88 supported by the reciprocating bars or rods 8|. The reciprocating brush 19 has been i]: lustrated as a single transverse brush whilethe reciprocating brush 88 has been illustrated as being formed by a plurality of individual brushes 82 mounted at an angle to the direction of travel of the conveyed material being coated and brushed. Although for the purpose of illustration the reciprocating brushes l8 and 88 have been illustrated asbeing formed differently, it is obvious that both reciprocating brushes may be formed as the brush 18 or as the brush 88 without departing from the scope of the invention. It is believed, however, that the arrangement, as illustrated in Figure 8, provides a more satisfactory mechanism for smoothing out a coating applied to a surface of sheet material to leave the surface of the material in a smooth and unstreaked condition. The brushes l9 and 88 may be individually adjusted vertically to compensate for the wear thereof. a It is preferred that the overall length of the brushes I9 and 88 shall be such that they extend entirely across the width of the material being coated and that the distance between the end frames shall be such, however, that reciprocatory motion of the brushes may be had with the brushes reciprocating in opposite directions with respect to each other. It is also preferred that the brush 8!] shall have the individual brushes 82 mounted in an overlapping condition so that each brush overlaps the other so that if the first brush is not being operated, the surface of the material may be brushed across the width thereof without reciprocating the brush 80.

It is obvious that the mechanism necessary for providing the brushes [9 and 88 with the reciprocatory motion shouldbe simpler than the apparatus necessary to provide the combined reciprocatory and rotary motion of the brushing apparatus disclosed and illustrated with respect to Figure 3. The reciprocating bars or rods 8| supporting the brushes l9 and 80 are suitably journaled in the end frames-31 and 38 in order that the bars may be reciprocated by the actuating mechanism 83.

Referring to Figures 9, 10, and 11, the preferred actuating mechanism comprises cams 84 and 85 similarly formed but timed preferably 180 out ofphase so that as one brush is moving in one direction the other brush is moving in an opposite direction. 'The cams 84 and 85 are afllxed to shafts 86 and 81 journaled'in supporting bearings 88 mounted on the end frame 81. The cam shafts 86 and 81 are suitably connected together by a drive chain 89 and sprockets 98. It is to be understood that if it is desired to reciprocate one brush relatively faster than the other this may be suitably accomplished by changing the size of sprockets driving the cam shafts. It is preferred that the rate of reciprocation of the brushes shall be such that a uniform unstreaked surface coating is formed as the material is conveyed and the coating applied.

The combined cam shaft and drive shaft 81 may be driven by the bevelled gears 92 and 93 from a variable speed motor 8|, suitably mounted on the end frame 31, the bevel gear '83 being suit-- ably affixed to the combined drive and cam shaft 81. The variable speed motor 9! or a constant speed motor may be ,7 used depending upon whether ornot it is necessary to vary the speed of the brushes or to reciprocate ,themlat a constant rate. It is evident that, as the cam shafts 86 and 81' are rotated, the cams 84 and 85 in turn reciprocate the reciprocating barsfll supporting the brushes 18 and!!!) by means of thecam shaft rollers 94 affixed to the rods 89 and held in contact withthe cams 84 and 85 by thesprings 95 affixed to the reciprocating bars 8| and to the end frame 31. It is also obvious that, as these cams are rotated, the reciprocating bars 8| are simultaneously reciprocated in opposite directions with respect to each other, thus imparting a suitable brushing action to the brushes I9 and 88 to smooth out any streaks which might be formed by the overlapping of the spray marks left by the automatic reciprocating type of spray machine or the swinging arm type of spray machine, and this form of brushing apparatus is equally as satisfactory for providing a smooth and unstreaked surface coating when used in combination with various coating apparatus such as coating rolls, doctoring rolls, doctoring blades, or other suitable form of apparatus for spraying or showering or otherwise applying a coating on a surface of material as it is conveyed underneath a suitable coating apparatus.

Although these novel forms of brushing apparatus have been primarily developed for brushing a coating appliedto felted fiber insulation boards in sheet form, and preferably sheets up to endincluding widths of 5' and lengths up to 12, it is evident that these brushing apparatus may be used for brushing continuous sheets of material in thin or thick sheet form and the brushing apparatus may be provided in suitable widths as may be required.

Although it is preferred to use these forms of brushing apparatus in connection with coatings comprising a pigment and an adhesive vehicle for the pigment, it is evident that this apparatus is suitable for any type of coating which may be showered on the surface of the sheet form material or sprayed thereon or' roller coated thereon and these types of coatings may be of the class of coatings comprising casein types of paint, oil base paints, lacquers, varnishes and the like without closed and claimed.

It is evident that there has been disclosed a 7 simple form of brushing apparatus and a modi-. fication thereof to be used in combination with coating apparatus of any particular type but preferably spraying apparatus of the types known as automatic reciprocating spraying ma chines and automatic swinging arm type, of spraying machines wherein the rate of coating may be increased from about 35' per minute up to and in excess of about 65 per minute without detracting fr'om the appearance of the fine ished surface coating and providing an improved unstreaked surface finish obliterating the streaks ordinarily occurring in coating at high speed with ordinary apparatus or left by the overlappingspray marks of the usual spraying apparatus without the novel formsfof brushing apparatusdisclosed. It is also obvious that this novel form ofbrushing apparatus is suitable for brushing an applied coating on either single sheets or continuous sheets of material of different thickness, and they may vary in thickness from material the thickness of paper to structura1 board like material in thicknesses up to and in excess of 1", or other forms of large flat objects to which it is desired to apply a smooth and uniform unstreaked surface coating. It is also apparent that apparatus has been disclosed which may be fabricated as a single apparatus or used in conjunction with a continuous type of conveyor which preferably has a translational movement or with any suitable conveyor apparatus which carries material being coated without departing from the scope of the invention as disclosed and cla med.

Suitable modifications have also been disclOsed providing novel apparatus forproviding not only a reciprocatory motion to the brushes, but also for providing a combined rotary and reciprocatory motion, as may be more suitable for use with the particular coating material being used. There has also been disclosed preferred mechanism for actuating the brushes to provide the reciprocatory or the combined reciprocatory and rotary motion and there has also been disclosed a simple form of mechanism for vertically adjusting the brushing apparatus with respect to the material and the conveyor to provide for changes in thickness of the material and to also provide for adjustment of the wear of the brushes.

The preferred embodiments of the invention described are also capable of certain other modifications without departure from the scope of the invention to be defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

i, In an apparatus for applying a surfacing coating to fiber insulation board and the like, the combination of a longitudinally extending framework, a conveyor for conveying sheet form material along the framework, a spraying device mounted over the framework and conveyor thereon and serving to apply a substantially uniform paint-like coating to the surface of a fiber insulation board carried by the conveyor and a coating distributing and smoothing devic mounted over the conveyor but longitudinally spaced from the spraying device and having a plurality of distributing and smoothing members carried thereby, the such members extending across the width of a sheet, mechanism connected to the members for imparting limited reciprocation thereto and the reciprocation, imparted to a such member, out of step with the reciprocation of another of such members.

2. In an apparatus for applying a surfacing coating to fiber insulation board and the like, the combination of a longitudinally extending framework, a conveyor for conveying sheet form material along the framework, a spraying device mounted over the framework and conveyor thereon, means traversing the sprayingdevlce transversely of the direction of travel of the conveyor and serving to apply a substantially uniform paint-like coating to the surface of a fiber insulation board carried by the conveyor and a coating distributing and smoothing device mounted over the conveyor but longitudinally spaced from the spraying device and having a plurality of distributing and smoothing members carried thereby, the such members extending across the width of a sheet carried by the conveyor, the

distributing and smoothing members mounted for rotation and limited transitional motion in the axial direction thereof, mechanism connected to the rotating and reciprocating members and rotating the such members and imparting thereto limited transitional movement in the direction of the axis of such members, the transitional movement imparted to a such member opposed inphase to that of another of such member.

FERGUS A. IRVINE. 

